Clematis in Seattle

Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’

One bright sunny day last week, as I poked around in the back garden, I was delighted by several wintry blossoms on C. cirrhosa ‘Freckles.’  This Mediterranean clematis with a delightful scent is said to bloom from October through February.  Mine, however, not being much for following rules, generally prefers blooming in August or March.  I complained about my wayward clematis to a British clematarian friend.  “Do you fertilize it in fall?” he asks.  Well, duh, that makes sense.  For a winter-blooming clematis to do it’s thing in winter, a fertilizer boost in autumn would certainly be helpful.   Of course, I haven’t remembered to do it yet, but I will next fall for sure.

For more information on this winter-bloomer, check out my February 2013 post (see list on the left).  A Dutch blogger has also deemed C. cirrhosa ‘Freckles’ Plant of the Month for January–click here to see the Dutch blog.  Use Google Translate to translate it into English (sort of).